Portugal’s economic indebtedness drops again

  • ECO News
  • 19 December 2019

The indebtedness of the economy includes the debt of all agents supported by the financial sector.

The debt of the Portuguese economy reached 724.6 billion euros in October, retreating from the previous month, according to data from the Bank of Portugal published this Thursday. In the third quarter, the debt measured as a percentage of GDP had fallen to 346.9%.

The central bank reveals that the Portuguese economy’s indebtedness reached 724.6 billion euros in October, after 725.8 billion euros in the previous month.

“Compared to September 2019, the indebtedness of the non-financial sector fell by 1.2 billion euros. This reduction was because of the 700 million euro drop in the private’s indebtedness sector and the 500 million euro drop in the public’s indebtedness sector,” says the institution led by Carlos Costa.

The bank also details that the decline in private sector debt resulted “mainly from the decrease in the indebtedness of private companies in relation to the financial sector and abroad, in the order of 900 million euros. An increase of around 100 million euros in the indebtedness of individuals partially offset this reduction in relation to the financial sector.”

As in previous months, private sector indebtedness weighs more on the total indebtedness of the economy: 319.5 billion euros were for the public sector and 405.2 billion euros for the private sector.

In the note released this Thursday, the Bank of Portugal updates the indebtedness measured as a percentage of GDP for the third quarter of the year, after the National Statistics Institute (INE) published additional information on GDP, from 348.3% of GDP to 346.9% of GDP, maintaining the decline compared to the previous quarter.